JOOST WELTEN
Industry Sales Manager Europe, Novozymes

Abstract

Hosted biennially by Novozymes, the Copenhagen Household Care Sustainability Summit gathers the global industry’s top business and sustainability minds to share pragmatic ideas for achieving true, documentable sustainability. The next summit is scheduled for 4-5 December, 2013. The conversation has evolved and the momentum is with us to make another giant leap towards more sustainable processes and consumer products.

In 2009, in conjunction with COP15, Novozymes hosted the first Copenhagen Household Care Sustainability Summit. Over 100 participants from the global detergent industry, including functions from executive level to sales, marketing, R&D and purchasing, convened in Copenhagen to examine the possibilities of integrating sustainability into the core of their businesses.

SUSTAINABILITY AS A BUSINESS STRATEGY
Back then sustainability as a business strategy was a relatively new idea. Although consumer demand for sustainable products was reaching an all-time high, and many companies were beginning to experience the business benefits of developing such products, sustainability was typically viewed as a major investment or a business sacrifice. At our 2009 summit, however, we seemed to reach a consensus that as an industry we could benefit from implementing sustainable innovation into our strategies.

Also at the 2009 Summit, apropos COP15, many discussions veere ... ...